Apple Buckwheat Muffins (Gluten-Free)

When I made Buckwheat-Corn muffins, I loved the texture -- crisp on the outside, crumbly inside.  They tasted great and the frozen leftovers thawed and reheated well.  I know a recipe is a winner when Nick asks if I've blogged it.  I just made a second batch with apples and spice. This recipe is lightly sweet...so you could add a dollop of apple butter or a drizzle of honey.  See the note at the end for the modifications to make a savory dinner muffin.

1/2 c. cornmeal
1 c. gluten free buckwheat flour
4 T sugar
2 1/2 t Baking Powder
1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t Penzey's Cake Spice blend
1 T whole psyllium husk
2 c. of peeled, diced baking apples (Cortland, Jonathon, Granny Smith)
6 oz. plain Greek Yogurt*
1/2 c. water*
2 eggs
1/2 t Penzey's Double-Strength Vanilla
1/4 c. butter, melted and cooled

Grease or line 12 muffin cups.  (I use foil cupcake liners, sprayed with cooking spray.  The pans stay clean, and the liners come off easily for a crispy outside on your muffins.)
Preheat the oven to 400°F, using a convection setting if you have it.

Melt your butter in the microwave and set it aside to cool.   Peel and dice the apples.
Measure the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir to combine thoroughly.
In another bowl, combine the yogurt and water and beat with an electric mixer until it's smooth and lump-free.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, and beat in the eggs.  With the mixer running, drizzle in the butter.
Add the apples and dry ingredients and stir until everything is well combined, with no dry lumps.
Fill the muffin cups almost to the top.  (I used ~ 4 T of batter per cup.)  Leftover batter can be baked in greased custard cups.
Bake 14 - 18 minutes, until browned and firm.

* The Greek yogurt and water can be replaced 1 1/4 c. low-fat buttermilk or 1 1/4 c. kefir.  I use the three pretty much interchangeably for quick breads and muffins.

TO make a SAVORY DINNER MUFFIN :  Omit apples, Cake Spice, and vanilla.  Reduce sugar to 2 T.

A Pumpkin Muffin worth sharing

My pumpkin muffins took a few tries.  You can't make a gluten-free muffin tough by overbeating, but you can make it tough if you make the batter too dry.  This was my third attempt, and the first worth sharing. 

I like to make a cinnamon cream cheese sweetened with honey or brown sugar to go with these muffins, so they're only lightly sweet.

14.5 oz. can solid pack pumpkin

2 eggs*

  70 grams oil (I used grapeseed)

185 grams lowfat buttermilk

  30 grams golden flax meal

  75 grams light brown sugar

  75 grams sugar

1 1/2 t double-strength vanilla

125 grams 40/60 All Purpose Gluten Free Flour Blend

100 grams teff flour

  75 grams sorghum flour

   2 t baking soda

   2 t baking powder

   1 t kosher salt

   2 t Penzey's Cake Spice

   1 c. walnut pieces or pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas)

If you're using walnuts, break each walnut half into 6-8 pieces.  Spread the broken walnuts or whole pumpkin seeds on a foil lined sheet, and toast in an oven or toaster oven until lightly browned and fragrant.

Preheat the oven to 350F, on the convection setting if you have one.

Weigh or measure all of the first group of ingredients into a mixing bowl.    Weigh or measure the second group of ingredients into a separate container.

Beat the contents of bowl thoroughly with a spoon or dough whisk until everything is smooth and uniform.  Stir in the dry ingredients gently at first, and then beat with the dough whisk.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula, and fold the batter over to make sure there aren't pockets of unmixed wet or dry ingredients at the bottom of the bowl.  Stir in the nuts or seeds.

Spray the cups of two non-stick muffin tins with 100% oil cooking spray.  Fill each muffin tin about 2/3 full.  You won't have quite enough batter for all 24 cups.  Wipe the cooking spray out of the empty cups, and wipe off any over spray on top of the pan.

Bake at 350F until the muffins are lightly browned  firm enough to spring back when you gently poke one with a finger.  This took me 18 minutes with the convection setting on -- it will probably take a little longer in a conventional oven.

Remove muffins to a wire rack too cool.

After they're completely cool, you can freeze leftover muffins and reheat them in the microwave or toaster oven.

*Egg sizes vary.  Since I had been tweaking this recipe, I was weighing everything, and my 2 eggs totaled 115 grams.